


11 Blocks

by starboyshiro



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Getting Back Together, Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-10
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2019-03-16 04:51:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13628964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starboyshiro/pseuds/starboyshiro
Summary: 11 blocks from my door to your doorstepThree years later and it feels too close





	11 Blocks

**Author's Note:**

> A big thanks to Omega and [Sam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/samscharmander/pseuds/samscharmander) for beta'ing!

Lance sighs, his breath visible in the brisk winter air. He stuffs his hands into his pockets, picking up the pace as he starts to walk to the house party. Only three blocks away from his apartment… 14 from Keith’s. He shakes his head, clearing any thoughts of Keith he nears the house. He shouldn’t be thinking about him so much— it’s been three long years, Lance can function without him. Just because he can function without him doesn’t mean he likes to. He finds himself thinking about him far too often. He spends more time thinking about his ex more than one person should.

As soon as Lance steps into the house, the smell of alcohol burns his nostrils. Keith would hate this. He was never big on parties. Lance looks out at the sea of people, dancing, talking, having fun while he’s stuck in his feelings, Keith is the last person that should be on his mind right now. He squeezes his way through the crowd, not stopping until he reaches the vodka. At least this will distract him. He mixes himself a drink, pouring a hefty amount of vodka into the cup with whatever mixer is nearby. Without putting much thought into it, he slams the drink, trying so hard to forget. He just wants to forget it all. Forget all of the bad times they had. Forget all the good times too because those ones seem to hurt the most. Looking back on all of the happiness he lost _hurts._

Lance wanders around the party aimlessly, not really enjoying himself. The party is more killing his mood rather than helping it. He should have just stayed home. He probably wouldn’t have thought about Keith so much at home… but he’s been thinking about him a lot lately. Looking through old pictures on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram was a terrible idea. He should have just deleted them all like a normal person does after a breakup, but he’s too much of a sentimental fuck and decided to keep them. Probably one of the biggest mistakes that he’s ever made.

Looking at the pictures hurt. He wanted to keep them though. The memories were all so good and he really wishes he could just go back. But he can’t. He messed it all up with Keith and there’s no way to just go back and fix it all. He should really just forget about the whole thing. It has been three years, after all. The fights ruined them. Stupid, pointless, fights that could have been avoided if they had just listened to each other.

The party continues to boom around Lance. He can feel his mood dipping lower and lower the longer he stays. The lights and heavy bass are getting to be too much. He should probably just go grab a coffee then go home. Maybe play some video games with Pidge to distract himself a little more. He discards his cup and makes his way out onto the porch. The cool air soothes him a little, calming his fiery cheeks.

He starts off in the direction of the coffee shop. He should really stop going to that one so much but it is the only 24-hour shop around. They would go there all the time. After classes, for a break, lunch dates, anything really. So many memories fill that little building and Lance can’t seem to pull himself away. It hurts to remember. It hurts so much to look back to how good he had it with Keith. At the same time, it feels good to remember it all. How in love with Keith he really was and still is. They let the stupid fights get in the way. Fights they never should have had. Fights they could have avoided. But _no_ , they just had to let outside opinions get to them. ‘Its normal for couples to fight.’, ‘Are you really in love if you and your partner don’t fight?’ It’s all bullshit and they shouldn’t have listened.

Lance pulls the door open to the coffee shop, taking in the warm surrounding. He orders his coffee and sits on the same comfy couch he used to sit on with Keith. _Only two blocks from Keith’s._ Keith isn’t who Lance should be thinking about right now but at this point, he doesn’t care anymore. He wants him back, but he’s so scared. Scared that it’ll all go wrong and he’ll go back to feeling empty inside.

He remembers that night so well. The stupid fight. The calm before it all ends. The warm cups of coffee in their hands as they tried to reason with themselves. Tried to make it work. In the end, it didn’t even matter. What they had fell apart because they let the pressure get to them.

The cashier draws Lance out of his thoughts, announcing that his drink is ready. Lance gets up and grabs it, rubbing his fingers over the cardboard sleeve while trying to decide what to do next.

Only two blocks to Keith’s. Lance decides losing him wasn’t worth it. He makes his way out of the shop. Walking the two blocks to Keith’s apartment. He knows he’ll be home. It's Friday and he’s not that type. Lance’s mind won’t stop the closer he gets to Keith’s doorstep. Memories flood black to him, trashing him about like a riptide.

It's almost as if he’s on autopilot as he walks the last few steps to the buzzer. He takes a deep breath, not giving it much through his he presses the button for Keith’s apartment.

Keith’s voice comes through the intercom seconds later. “Who is it?”

Lance gulps, his throat suddenly tight as he tries to find the right words. Of course, Keith wasn’t expecting him. He probably wasn’t expecting anyone to show up. But here Lance is, freaking out, still not saying anything.

“Hello? Is anyone there?”

Lance can hear the slight annoyance in his tone.

“Yes,” Lance blurts out. “It-it’s Lance… I was around and thought maybe we could talk?”

There’s a moment of silence as Lance waits for Keith to say something. Keith doesn’t say anything but he does buzz Lance into the building. He takes it as a good sign and walks into the building, drinking down the rest of his coffee and dropping it into the wastebasket before walking up to Keith’s apartment.

Thoughts of how bad of an idea this is could Lance’s thoughts. He tries to push them back while climbing the stairs to the apartment. He stops at the top of the stairs, drawing in a deep breath. His brain is screaming at him to just go him but his legs betray him. Before he has any more time to think about leaving he’s already standing in front of the door. Fist poised to knock on the door.

Despite everything his brain is screaming he lets his heart lead the way and knocks. Keith swings open the door, staring at Lance, not saying a word. His hair had gotten longer… it looks good on him.

Lance opens his mouth, closes it, then opens, and then closes it again. He doesn’t know what to say. Hell, he doesn’t even know why he came.

“Why are you here?” Keith asks, finally breaking the silence.

“I don’t know,” Lance admits. “I was at the coffee shop and now I’m here and… and I don’t really have a reason other than wanting to see you. I guess to maybe talk? I know—”

Keith cuts him off, “Just come in, Lance.” He steps to the side, allowing for Lance to step into the small apartment.   

Lance looks around, picking at his nails as he takes in his surrounds. Not much has changed. A few unfamiliar paintings hang neatly against the otherwise bare white walls. Different couch, a nice one from the looks of it. Gray, with a couple throw pillows tossed on it. Very much Keith’s style.

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to talk?”

Right, talking. That’s why he came here.

Lance rubs his eyes, his fingertips lightly tracing the bags under his eyes. They seem to be a constant presence in his life after the breakup. They’re not as bright as they used to be nor his skin. He hates how much he let everything weigh him down, he wishes he could push the thoughts away. His friends worry, always asking if he’s okay. Three years of hiding how he feels is becoming rather exhausting.

“Are you sick? You don’t look well.”  Keith places his hand against Lance’s forehead, the soft touch causes Lance to flinch.  

“I’m fine, I just want to talk.”

“No one is stopping you.”

“I miss you,” his voice cracks, tears threatening to fall already.

“You _what?”_

“I miss you. Am I not allowed to do that?”

“No! You’re not! Why did you even come here, Lance?” Keith looks angry… of course he’s angry, Lance hasn’t bothered to say a word to him for three years and he just now shows up to stir the pot and piss him off.

“What the fuck? Why can’t I miss you? I’m a person, you know. I have feelings. I have memories— they hurt, Keith. Every time I walk into that damn coffee shop I think about you and it _hurts._ ”

“You don’t think I’m hurting too? I hate this. All of the damn memories I have with you and having you only 11 blocks away is _too_ close. I can’t deal with this, Lance. I can’t do this right now. I just… you need to leave.”

“No.”

“No?” Keith repeats.

“I’m not going to walk away from this again, Keith. Not talking about our feelings is what fucked us up in the first place.”

“You say that like it's my fault,” Keith practically hisses.

“I’m not blaming you. We both could have handled our relationship better. Our communication skills fucking suck and I want to get better at it. I don’t want to let other people influence our relationship anymore. I-I’m so sick of being apart, Keith, I fucking love you.” Lance’s voice cracks as he struggles to get the words out. He rubs the heels of his hands into eyes. God, he’s such a mess.

Keith sighs, placing his hand on Lance’s shoulder. Lance looks at him, actually _looks_ at him for the first time since he got here. He looks a lot better than Lance does right now, he’s clearly been taking this breakup better than Lance has. He should be over it anyway, it's been three years.

“We can’t do this,” Keith says softly, breaking Lance’s heart in two.

“Please,” Lance begs, his eyes wide as silent tears slide down his face.

“I don’t want to end up getting my heart broken again, Lance. We can’t— _I_ can’t do this.”

The words ring in Lance’s ears. He should have just stayed home. He would have gotten over Keith eventually. He could have spared himself the humiliation and heartbreak if he would have just stayed home.

Lance doesn’t know what to do. He can’t move he just stares at Keith, a steady stream of tears falling down his face. He can’t stop shaking he wants to scream so bad but he can’t. He can’t bring himself to do anything other than stand and stare. He can see Keith’s mouth moving but he can’t make out any of the words. Keith stands there, gesturing wildly with his hands and avoiding Lance’s gaze.  

Lance finally breaks out of his trance, shaking his head and wiping his eyes. He pushes past Keith in an attempt to get away from him but Keith grabs onto his wrist with an iron-tight grip and boy does he look pissed.

“Are you seriously trying to walk away right now? Are you even listening to me, Lance?” Keith’s words feel like venom in Lance’s veins.  

“No,” Lance admits. “You said you can’t do this and then I kind of zoned out a little and I thought I should probably leave now?”

Keith sighs, his shoulders sagging slightly.

“I don’t want to cause any more problems than I already have, I’ll just leave.”

“No offense, Lance, but you’re a fucking idiot.”

“Can’t say I’m not offended by that.” Lance crosses his arms over his chest, wondering what the hell Keith won’t just let him leave.

“I can’t believe I’m in love with such an idiot,” Keith chuckles and runs his fingers through his hair.

Lance scoffs, looking away from Keith.

“Anyway… I was saying I miss you too, Lance. I miss seeing you all the time and waking up next to you and just kissing you. I miss you.”

Lance’s brain goes haywire. Keith actually misses him? He actually has a chance at making this work?

Lance sucks in a deep breath, remembering that breathing is rather important. He cards his fingers through his hair, tugging on it gently. He doesn’t know how to process this. He doesn’t know what to say. He moves on shaky legs over to the couch, sitting down just before they give out on him.

“What does this mean for us?”

Keith shrugs, sitting down next to Lance. “I don’t really know. We can start with trying to be friends again and then see where it goes from there? If it works out then it works out and if it doesn’t then we can at least say we tried.”  

Lance nods, unsure of how to feel or what to say. He lets his body lead the way and wraps his arms tightly around Keith. He emits a rather embarrassing whine as he snuggles closer to Keith. He knew he missed him but he didn’t think hugging him again would feel so good.

“I’m sorry for fucking it all up the first time.”

“It wasn’t just you, Lance,” Keith whispers, rubbing soothing circles into his back.

Lance relaxes into his chest, savoring it for as long as he can, not knowing how long it'll last.

“We can start slow. Hang out more, go to dinner, have movie nights like we used to. Then if it feels right we can try to ease back into a relationship,” Keith says, gently wiping the tears from Lance's face.

Lance nods and places his hands over Keith’s. He missed these gentle touches so much. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Keith mumbles, not missing a beat but making Lance's heart skip one.

 

—

 

Lance smiles softly, sitting down next to Keith, bowl of popcorn in hand. Nearly six months have passed since they started talking again and things are going far better than he had ever expected. Even though they aren't together like he actually wants he's still overjoyed that he can at the very least be friends with Keith. He missed him so much over those three years. Movie nights feel good. They feel natural.

Keith pokes Lance, breaking him from his thoughts. “Are you listening to me?”

“Mm, no. I kind of zoned. What were you saying?”

“I require your full attention at all times.”

Lance smiles fondly. “You have my full attention now, mullet.”

“I thought you said you liked it?” Keith pouts his bottom him, reaching up to play with the ends of his hair.

“I do, you dork. Now, what were you saying?” Lance asks before shoving a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

“I asked if you wanna fuck?”

Lance nearly chokes on his popcorn, coughing violently for a few seconds while Keith laughs innocently.  

“You can't just say that!” Lance shouts, giving Keith's shoulder a gentle shove.

Keith smiles softly, shrugging as he throws his arm around Lance's shoulders. “You know, I'm only half joking.”

“I would at least like a nice night out first.”

“Hmm, that could probably be arranged.” Keith scoots closer to him, their thighs rubbing against each other.

“Keith…”

“If you don't want this just say no.”

Lance looks at him, staring deep into his eyes, trying to get some sort of read on what he's thinking. Lance swallows hard and slowly drags his hands up Keith's body, stopping to wrap his arms around his neck.

“I want this,” Lance breathes out, his word tickling Keith's lips.

Keith nods, closing the small gap between their lips. Their lips meet for a kiss softer than either of them have ever experienced before, both being too avoid to overstep.

Keith pulls away first, resting his forehead against Lance's. His chest tight, so many thoughts rush through his mind and he doesn't know how to express any of them.

“I love you,” Lance whispers and it all feels so right.  

“I love you too.” Keith keeps his voice low, fearing he'll ruin the moment if he gets too loud. “I'm… I'm so glad you came back. I missed you so much an—”

Lance cuts him off with another kiss. “I know. The past doesn't matter anymore. The only thing that matters is that we're here right now. I promise I won't leave you again. We’ll make this work.

“You better not.” Keith squeezes his hand, smiling softly

“I promise,” Lance says while pulling Keith in for another kiss. This one holding much more passion and fever into it. He pours all of the feelings that he couldn’t express over the last three years into it.

 

—

 

Another three years pass and Lance doesn’t regret a thing. The decision to go see Keith that cold February night is one of the best ones he’s ever made. It had been so easy for them to fit themselves back together. They had moved in together not too long after getting back together. They aren’t perfect by any means but they’re perfect for each other which made the decision to propose one of the easiest one Lance ever had to make. Keith, of course, said yes, and they got married not too long after. They were finally happy.

“Stop staring at me while I sleep, you freak,” Keith grumbles, tossing a pillow at Lance.

“Come on, don’t be like that, pumpkin.”

“And stop calling me pumpkin, it's too damn cheesy.”

Lance chuckles, wrapping his arms tightly around his husband. “I love you, grump master.”

Keith groans and half-heartedly tries to push Lance away. He’ll never admit it but he actually enjoys Lance’s stupid little nicknames.

“That isn’t any better!”

Lance kisses his bare shoulder, smiling softly against his skin. Keith sighs, melting into the soft kisses Lance peppers against his skin.

“I love you, Keith.”

“I love you too, Lance.”

Lance caresses Keith’s cheek, gently running his thumb against it. His eyes are filled with nothing but pure love and adoration. He leans in, kissing him with as much passion as he can muster, pouring every single ounce of love he has into it.

The three years apart may have seemed like their ending, but in the end, it made them stronger and better for each other. They learned so much while they were apart and they were able to apply it to their relationship and makes themselves better. After all, the three years apart had been worth it, they now have the rest of their lives to spend together.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! You can find me on tumblr [@starboyshiro](http://starboyshiro.tumblr.com)


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